Count This Cowboy In (14 page)

She was quiet again
and he looked down and saw tears running down her cheeks.  He rubbed her back and hugged her a bit tighter. "What happened, Sweetie?"

It took her a little while to pull herself together, but when she did she quickly said,
"He met a lady and married her.  Then he died and she owned the ranch.  She kicked me out and I left Texas." 

Trevor was stunned.  It was obvious this was painful for her, so he wasn
't about to push her any further tonight.  He was proud of her for opening up this much.  He gave her all the comfort he could and was there with her as she calmed down.  With his mouth next to her ear he whispered, "Sam, thank you for trusting me enough to share that with me.  I'm so proud of you.  I know that was hard, talking about it, so I'm not going to push now, but if you ever want to talk more, I'm here."

"
Thank you." 

They were both happy just being close, holding each other, talking now and then about nothing in particular. 

When he saw her yawn he said, "Time to get you to bed, Sweetie.  Clay's coming over around 1:00 and we'll have lunch.  Do you want to go riding in the morning?"

She eagerly looked up at him and saw him smiling. 
"You know I always want to go riding."

"
Yes, you do.  But now I understand a little bit more about why you do.  You didn't just live on a ranch for a while; you grew up on a ranch.  That also explains your horse skills."

"
I've been riding them since I was three, honest."

"
Well, now that I know that I won't worry quite so much when you're on a horse."

"
Not so much?"

"
I know, I know.  I told you, I'm working on this protectiveness thing.  That reminds me, I got something for you.  I'll give it to you tomorrow.  You need to get some sleep now.  I don't want you falling asleep while we're riding or during our lunch."

"
Our lunch?  I thought you and Clay were having lunch, getting caught up with each other."

"
We are, but I want you there with us, too.  I'm sorry if I didn't make that clear."

"
You don't have to include me, Trevor.  You guys are old friends."

"
And you and I are new friends, quickly becoming more than just friends.  I want you there, too.  I want you to get to know my friends."  After a moment he added, "And that reminds me.  I know you're not from here, so your friends aren't local.  If you want to invite any of your friends over to spend a few days, go ahead.  There's only one bedroom in the guesthouse, but I have plenty of room in the main house and your friends can stay there at night."

She looked up at him with admiration. 
"Thank you.  That's nice of you."

"
Not totally just being nice.  I'd love to meet some of your friends."  He shrugged, as if in apology.

She laughed, but stood up, yawning again. 
"I guess I am getting sleepy.  Thank you for the invitation to lunch."

"
Lock the door after I leave and then get some sleep.  Come over for breakfast in the morning and we'll go riding afterwards."

* * * * *

Sunday morning Trevor was whistling while doing his chores.  Grant came into the barn smiling. 
"I take it you and Sam had a good time last night, boss?"

Knowing his foreman was enjoying the opportunity for a little ribbing, Trevor said,
"We certainly did, Grant.  And you?  I saw you sneaking out the back door with the same brunette you were with at the Spring Fling.  Are you getting serious?"

"
I think we are, yeah.  But back to you, it's been awhile since you've been whistling on Sunday morning."

"
Yeah, I guess it has."

"
Well, I just want to say I'm happy for you.  Sam seems like a great gal."

Finishing up his portion of the chores, Trevor said,
"Yes, she does."

He thought he heard Sam and Consuela talking as he neared the kitchen, but as soon as he walked in it got quiet.  Obviously quiet.  He looked from one to the other and said,
"I'm sorry.  Do you want me to leave so you can finish your conversation?"

Trevor couldn
't believe, Consuela turned red and looked down at the floor, but his little imp said, "Yeah, if you could, please.  Ten minutes ought to do it, we're about done."  She looked up at him with such a serious expression that he was speechless.  Consuela's head flew up at her words, as well and her mouth was hanging open.  Looking at the two of them, Sam couldn't control it any longer and burst out laughing.  "Sorry.  She asked how last night went."

"
And what did you tell her?"

Sam walked over to Trevor and said,
"I told her I had a great time."  She stretched up and kissed him on his cheek.

"
Well, then by all means, keep talking while I go take a shower.  After that let's eat breakfast, then we can go riding, if you think you can behave yourself."

She tried to look offended, but he chuckled.  As he was heading toward the stairs to take a shower she said, rather loudly,
"Okay, now that he's gone, what were we saying?"

His chuckle turned to a full laugh as he ascended the stairs.

An hour later they were heading out on their horses, side by side.

When they returned an hour and a half later Trevor had his left arm wrapped around Sam
's waist, who was also riding on his horse, in front of him.  Her horse was tied to Trevor's saddle and following along behind them.  Grant and two of the hands that were in the bunkhouse saw them coming and went out to meet them.  Grant immediately took the reigns of Trevor's horse and said, "I got the horses.  What happened?  Sam, are you okay?"

"
I'm fine," she assured them.

"
No, she's not," Trevor insisted.

"
He worries too much.  I'm fine."

"
She hurt her right wrist and it's swollen.  I didn't want her riding her mare back."

"
I would have been fine.  As gentle as she is I could have controlled her with my left hand."

"
Yes, you probably could have, unless she got spooked.  Then what would you have done?"  He asked Grant and the hands, "Would you guys mind taking care of the horses for us?  I want to get her inside and take a look at her wrist, see if we need to get it X–rayed."

"
No problem, boss," Grant said.  "We got the horses, you take care of Sam."  He turned to Sam and said, "You listen to him, Sam.  He knows what he's talking about."

Sam was tired of everyone fussing over a sore wrist
and said, "I suppose he's a doctor, so I should listen to him?"

Clark looked at her and said,
"No, not a doctor, but he is a licensed EMT.  And a good one."

Sam looked up at him, embarrassed. 
"You are?"

He simply nodded.

"You didn't tell me that."

"
You didn't ask."

Her face was red and she quietly said,
"Um, I'm sorry."

The two men were walking off with the horses
and Trevor leaned down closer to her ear to quietly say, "I'm not sure you are.  But I'm pretty sure you will be."

She whirled around and looked up into his face.  He had a very grim, determined look on his face that she didn
't care much for.  He gently prodded her on into the kitchen, where he unceremoniously picked her up and sat her on the counter top.  "Hey!" she immediately objected.

He didn
't say a word, simply met her eyes with his.  And his did not look a bit happy.  She didn't say anything else.  "Wise choice," he told her when he saw she had decided against further argument.

Consuela came around the corner just then and saw Sam sitting on the counter and Trevor looking less than happy. 
"What happened?  Is Miss Sam okay?"

"
I'm fine." 

His eyes immediately met hers again
and she looked down at her lap again.

He looked at Consuela and said,
"She was walking, balancing on a fallen tree, which I told her not to do."  He looked over at her, but she was still studying her hands.  "And she fell.  She landed on her right ankle and wrist.  Her wrist swelled, so I want to check it further."  He'd been gently taking her shoe and sock off and now looking at it, he said, "Her ankle's a little swollen, but not as much as her wrist."

"
Do you need anything I can get, Mr. Trevor?"

"
No, thank you, Consuela.  I'm going to see if I think we should get any X–rays.  I'll be right back.  I need a washcloth to wash her wrist off."  Looking at Sam directly, pulling her chin up so she would look at him, his look and voice were gentler as he said, "Don't try and go anywhere, Sam.  I'll be right back."

She nodded and he turned to leave, but she grabbed his arm and stopped him. 
"Trevor, I'm really sorry."

"
We'll talk about it after I make sure you're okay."  The look in her eyes scared him a bit and he patted the hand that was holding his arm and said, "I'll be right back."

She nodded and let him go.

Consuela looked at her and knew there was something more going on.  She went closer to Sam and asked, "Miss Sam, what's wrong?"

A few stray tears escaped Sam
's eyes as she quickly said, "I didn't know Trevor is an EMT.  I thought he was just being overprotective again and said some rude things, like since he's not a doctor I would certainly think I'd know more about if I was hurt than he would."  She looked at Consuela and said, "He was looking out for me and I was awful to him.  When will I ever learn?  He probably hates me now."

Consuela patted her hand and was ready to reassure her, when Trevor came back into the room, saying,
"No, I don't hate you, Sam.  Far from it."  He came over to stand in front of her and when he saw the tears on her cheeks he put the washcloth down and took her into his arms. 

Consuela said,
"I see you have things under control here, Mr. Trevor, so I will be in my suite.  If you need anything, call me."

Smiling at her, he said,
"Thank you, Consuela."

When they were alone, he rubbed her back to calm her down. 
"Sweetie, we'll talk in a little bit.  But rest assured, I definitely do not hate you."  He kissed her forehead and pulled back and started washing her wrist gently, checking the swelling.

After a minute she said,
"So you're an EMT?"

"
Yes.  Occasionally one of the hands got hurt on the ranch and I always felt helpless.  I didn't know if it was safe to move him and take him to the doctor or if we needed to call an ambulance.  And if he was quite a ways from the house it complicated it further.  So I took some EMT courses so I'd be able to answer those questions better.  Does that hurt?"  He moved her wrist gently, watching her reaction.

"
No."

"
How about this?  And this?" 

He saw her flinch that time, but she still said,
"No."

Assuming her flinch meant it did hurt, there was one other thing he had to try, which he was afraid would also hurt, but he had to know.  So he watched her expression closely and asked,
"How about this?"

"
Oh!"  She quickly recovered and said, "Maybe a little, but not bad."

"
Samantha Louise Simmerly, you are already in trouble with me.  You do not want to lie to me right now."

Sam jumped at the intensity of his voice
and quietly said, "Sorry.  Okay, yes, it does hurt."  With tears running down her cheeks again she said, "But I don't want it to."

She was so darn cute when she said that, all his anger
left him.  He pulled her in against his chest and said, "I know you don't, Sweetie and I'm sorry I had to do that."

He held her until she stopped crying.  He pulled back and told her,
"I think your ankle's okay, but I want to check it to be sure." 

As he started gently feeling and pushing and prodding her ankle, she asked,
"What about my wrist?"

He looked up at her and, letting go of her ankle for a moment, picked her wrist up and kissed it. 
"I don't think it's broken, but I do think it's sprained.  I want to get an X–ray, though, to be sure."  He grinned and said, "I'd like to have a doctor tell us how much I should pamper you and for how long."

"
Do we have to do that?  Can't we just see if the swelling goes down first?"

"
Samantha, I'm not angry any more, but we're still going to be discussing several things.  Are you sure you want to argue with me?"

Seeing the grim look on his face, she quickly said,
"Yeah, maybe not."